Here is what we know about Id Software's next blockbuster game: It is not a new Doom, Wolfenstein or Commander Keen and it is designed for Mac OS.
Audience at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference 2007 were surprised to see John Carmack take the stage and announce Id's latest 3d engine, named id Tech 5. "Since many developers at id have made the switch to the Mac for their personal use, we decided it was now time to bring our core game technology to OS X", said Carmack. "After a rapid bring up of the codebase, we were delighted to find that the latest Macs are the fastest systems in our offices for some of the time consuming processing jobs and will be contributing to our development process in many useful ways".
News about Tech 5 is still slim, but we know that its greatest strength lies in its ability to practically eliminate the texture memory constraints typically placed on artists and designers and allows for the unique customization of the entire game world at the pixel level. Carmack showcased a demo that used 20 GB of textures in Apple's Conference.
According to Id's official press release, "While shown for the very first time running in real time on a Mac, id Tech 5 additionally supports the Xbox 360 and Playstation3 console platforms as well as the PC, and will be available for licensing to developers and publishers interested in working with a truly next-generation rendering and game development solution".
id Software will be showing id Tech 5 to interested developers and publishers by appointment only at the E3 Media & Business Summit from July 11 - 13, 2007 in Santa Monica, Calif.